907 Tank & Stand Build - 55 Gallon

[tbrown]

Walt Smith is culturing aragocrete rocks in Fiji mariculture sites, much like TBS does in the gulf. You can get the rock shipped via wholesalers. You gotta get it from the airport, though. When I upgrade, I am 100% ordering it.

I culture Aragocrete rocks in Arizona....

 

[Fish Styx]

I culture Aragocrete rocks in Arizona....

Arizona hitchhikers:

 

[907_Reefer]

Walt Smith is culturing aragocrete rocks in Fiji mariculture sites, much like TBS does in the gulf. You can get the rock shipped via wholesalers. You gotta get it from the airport, though. When I upgrade, I am 100% ordering it.

100% same here! As much as I like the creative scapes with dry rock, I will only use LR. I believe Livestockusa.org is a distributor for Walt Smith?

I've been starting to follow the key players a bit, Tampa Bay Saltwater, Gulf Live Rock, KP Aquatics, and these Fiji aquacultured rocks. After our first tank, I'm also on team Fiji.

Adding some links here for reference:

WSI Home Page

www.livestockusa.org - Corals - Marine Fish - Acropora - Live Rock - Marine Aquarium

In one of the recent LR threads here there was a link to a TBS video about their live rock process which is interesting to see how their process works:

 

[Fish Styx]

100% same here! As much as I like the creative scapes with dry rock, I will only use LR. I believe Livestockusa.org is a distributor for Walt Smith?

I've been starting to follow the key players a bit, Tampa Bay Saltwater, Gulf Live Rock, KP Aquatics, and these Fiji aquacultured rocks. After our first tank, I'm also on team Fiji.

Adding some links here for reference:

WSI Home Page

www.livestockusa.org - Corals - Marine Fish - Acropora - Live Rock - Marine Aquarium

In one of the recent LR threads here there was a link to a TBS video about their live rock process which is interesting to see how their process works:

You are correct.

 

[907_Reefer]

Arizona hitchhikers:

This wins the internet today in my book

 

[Stang67]

*** THROWBACK THURSDAY ***

I dug up our old tank pics from a hard drive this week and want to add some in here. This was our first SW tank, ran on the east coast for about a year and a half in the 2012-2013 range. We sold it off when we moved up to AK.

This was a 55g long, no sump. HOB filtration (skimmer), run under an 8-bulb T5. We procured SW from our LFS, and topped up manually with distilled. We never dosed, and never had any big issues.

The key to me here was in the rocks. These were real Fiji live rocks, shipped to our door (now banned as of 2017(?) - and I do not recall the distributor). We picked through them lightly for some hitchhikers, dumped them in, and it was an "insta-tank". Corals thrived (maybe except 1 acro ), fish were happy as can be, including a Mandarin (we did not supplement pods), a Coral Beauty that never ate corals, and a sixline that didn't cause us a problem. We found clam hitch hikers, different worms, stars, polyps, pods, etc. I cringe now looking back at the rock we'll never get again (short of a lucky tank breakdown), hoping the second owner is still running it in their system..

The tank was between 12-16 months old in these pics, enjoy..

Zoas started growing down the rocks in no time. We only added a few frags..

Mushrooms multiplied immediately..

Our resident Halloween Urchin re-decorator..

Have to have a pistol shrimp and goby..

This clam (?) was a hitchhiker..

Orange Sea Star was a hoot..

 

[Stang67]

When I was in Fiji diving the corals were mindblowing. I was literally
In awe on every dive.

 

[907_Reefer]

When I was in Fiji diving the corals were mindblowing. I was literally
In awe on every dive.

I can only imagine what that is like in person.. Loved your last dive photos btw!

We took our honeymoon in Hawaii in 2014 (big island), spent almost an entire afternoon snorkeling, following around a Parrotfish, I don't think he minded - it was awesome

 

[rmorris_14]

Arizona hitchhikers:

This was pre nap humor.

 

[907_Reefer]

So I promised to show off my pineapple sponges.. With the skimmer on/off/clean/on/off yadda yadda they've migrated to my feeder tube.. They previously only grew in the skimmer itself....

@rmorris_14 , what do we do when they are sideways?

 

[rmorris_14]

So I promised to show off my pineapple sponges.. With the skimmer on/off/clean/on/off yadda yadda they've migrated to my feeder tube.. They previously only grew in the skimmer itself....

@rmorris_14 , what do we do when they are sideways?

 

[Projects with Sam]

good definition!

 

[907_Reefer]

Prepping for a little tank maintenance today, water change, scrape glass, clean feeder, deliver rogue empty shells to pistol shrimp area. Good Friday afternoon if you ask me.

Also playing with lighting (Radion XR15 blue). We've been running the AB+ schedule and looking to get a little more white involved, the blues are, very blue. Of course with the XR15 Blue there is no "white" adjustment, so you have to play with all the sliders until you a) get what you want, b) fish have seizures from the rave, c) give up and defer to the single Kelvin slider. So I'll be trying some Kelvin settings for mid day with AB+ blues early/late.

Happy to hear if anyone has a more white setting with the XR15 blues that keeps everything happy (including the wife who complains about all her pictures in the area becoming ruined lol).. I've tried a few templates from here and Reef Dudes and nothing has landed with us yet..

9500K results in:

9000K below (too white for me), no camera filter. Probably will end up at 10K here for a few days to see what we (people and corals) think.. Will snap a pic after maintenance and light tweaks.

 

[Stang67]

Prepping for a little tank maintenance today, water change, scrape glass, clean feeder, deliver rogue empty shells to pistol shrimp area. Good Friday afternoon if you ask me.

Also playing with lighting (Radion XR15 blue). We've been running the AB+ schedule and looking to get a little more white involved, the blues are, very blue. Of course with the XR15 Blue there is no "white" adjustment, so you have to play with all the sliders until you a) get what you want, b) fish have seizures from the rave, c) give up and defer to the single Kelvin slider. So I'll be trying some Kelvin settings for mid day with AB+ blues early/late.

Happy to hear if anyone has a more white setting with the XR15 blues that keeps everything happy (including the wife who complains about all her pictures in the area becoming ruined lol).. I've tried a few templates from here and Reef Dudes and nothing has landed with us yet..

9500K results in:

9000K below (too white for me), no camera filter. Probably will end up at 10K here for a few days to see what we (people and corals) think.. Will snap a pic after maintenance and light tweaks.

I'd be all over those slider controls like a freak at a rave. Good thing I have reefbreeders and a crappy remote.

 

[907_Reefer]

For the lighting change, we settled on 10K. Below is a pic, no filter. With cleaned glass as well the humans are pleased thus far.

Made some light flow adjustments, and also tried an experiment to modify the Avast Marine cannonball (feeder tube cover). I tried a verryy complex method of drilling a few holes in it.. No bueno..

With the feeder in the DT, algae can grow in the feeder tube and clog things. Avast prints these covers for $8, I love the idea (I had made my own cardboard cover prior, but it almost covers too well and allows mold to grow on the food. We need vents! I'll pickup another for $8 and try plan B next time I order food.

Plan B is, make a new plan.

Pineapple sponges also had to be cleared out yesterday..

 

[Mhamilton0911]

For the lighting change, we settled on 10K. Below is a pic, no filter. With cleaned glass as well the humans are pleased thus far.

Made some light flow adjustments, and also tried an experiment to modify the Avast Marine cannonball (feeder tube cover). I tried a verryy complex method of drilling a few holes in it.. No bueno..

With the feeder in the DT, algae can grow in the feeder tube and clog things. Avast prints these covers for $8, I love the idea (I had made my own cardboard cover prior, but it almost covers too well and allows mold to grow on the food. We need vents! I'll pickup another for $8 and try plan B next time I order food.

Plan B is, make a new plan.

Pineapple sponges also had to be cleared out yesterday..

Love your hermit. I have 3 of those type. They currently occupy the largest of astrea shells. The are really cool looking with that bright orange stripe!

 

[rmorris_14]

Yeah.. the love emoji was for the hermit

 

[907_Reefer]

Love your hermit. I have 3 of those type. They currently occupy the largest of astrea shells. The are really cool looking with that bright orange stripe!

These guys are great, I have 5-6 of them in there currently. They do much better than the red leggers..

Even have daily meetings

 

[Fish Styx]

Yeah.. the love emoji was for the hermit

Hahahahahaha

 

[907_Reefer]

Yeah.. the love emoji was for the hermit